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Journal of Virology, June 2006, p. 6165-6170, Vol. 80, No. 12
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02331-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, G.W. Hooper Foundation, Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143
Received 5 November 2005/ Accepted 28 March 2006
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Recent studies have shown that one link between infection and cytokine release is the latent viral protein known as kaposin B (16, 20). Kaposin B consists largely of two sets of reiterated, proline-rich, 23-amino-acid direct repeats, known as DR2 and DR1 (20). The protein binds to a host cell protein kinase known as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-associated protein kinase 2, or MK2 (16). MK2 is an important kinase in the proinflammatory p38 MAPK signaling pathway, which is designed to sense inflammatory and other stress signals (e.g., hyperosmolarity and oxidative stress) (10, 12, 13, 21). Activation of p38 MAPK results in its nuclear translocation, where it can bind and phosphorylate MK2 (8, 19). This phosphorylation leads to the export of both proteins to the cytosol, where MK2 can phosphorylate additional target proteins (7, 17, 27), including proteins that control the half-life of an important subpopulation of labile cytoplasmic mRNAsthose bearing AU-rich elements (AREs) in their 3' untranslated regions (14). In the ground state, ARE-containing mRNAs are extremely unstable (4, 22, 23); when MK2 is activated, however, phosphorylation of its downstream cytosolic substrates results in marked stabilization of these messages (25, 28). This result is of interest because many cytokine and growth factor transcripts harbor AREs and are regulated in this fashion.
In kaposin B-expressing cells, the protein can be readily found bound to MK2, and MK2 activity is enhanced in this complex (16). Kaposin B-mediated activation of MK2 blocks the decay of several ARE-containing mRNAs, with a resulting net increase in the production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (16). We have previously shown that the binding to MK2 maps to the amino-terminal DR2 element of kaposin B (16). To determine whether the DR2 elements alone could mediate the downstream blockade in ARE-mRNA decay, we employed a previously described assay in which a ß-globin reporter gene bearing a 3' ARE (from GM-CSF) is placed under the control of a Tet operator in HeLa Tet-Off cells (5, 6, 16). These cells stably express a chimeric transcriptional activator whose activity is repressed by doxycycline. Transient transfection of these cells in the absence of the drug results in expression of the chimeric mRNA; the addition of doxycycline turns off new transcription, allowing assessment of the half-life of the transcript by Northern blotting of RNA harvested at serial time points thereafter (16). HeLa Tet-Off cells were transfected with either a control (empty) vector, a vector expressing wild-type (WT) kaposin B, a DR2 multimer, or a DR1 multimer; at 30 h posttransfection, doxycycline was added and RNA harvested at 0, 1, 2, and 4 h thereafter. As shown in Fig. 1A, the ß-globin-ARE-mRNA was extremely unstable in the absence of kaposin B and was dramatically stabilized by expression of WT kaposin B. As expected, proteins composed of DR1 alone did not function in this assay. The construct containing DR2 alone was also inactive, indicating that the ability to bind MK2 in vitro is not sufficient for functional activation of MK2 in vivo. This implies that DR1 contributes an important function to kaposin B either by the presentation of DR2 to MK2 in an optimal manner or by the interaction of DR1 with other cellular components required for activation. Interestingly, expression of the DR2 elements dominantly inhibits the function of WT kaposin B in cotransfected cells (Fig. 1B) without affecting WT kaposin B protein levels. Conversely, the DR1 elements have little effect on WT kaposin B activity (Fig. 1B). Taken together, these findings suggest that each set of repeats contributes importantly to the function of the wild-type molecule.
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FIG. 1. Analysis of the kaposin B direct repeats in ARE-mRNA decay. (A) Kaposin B (kap B) DR2 and DR1 do not block ARE-mRNA decay. HeLa Tet-Off cells were cotransfected with a ß-globin-based reporter (with the AU-rich element from GM-CSF inserted in its 3' untranslated region) and test plasmids. After 30 h, doxycycline (dox.) was added to the media to stop transcription. RNA was harvested at 0, 1, 2, and 4 h after doxycycline addition; ß-globin and GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) mRNAs were detected using 32P-labeled antisense riboprobes. (B) The DR2 elements block the function of WT kaposin B in ARE-mRNA decay. Cells were cotransfected with equal amounts of the indicated test plasmids and ß-globin-ARE reporter and treated with doxycycline as described above. ß-globin-ARE-mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH-mRNA levels and expressed in terms of percent mRNA remaining.
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FIG. 2. The kaposin B miniprotein activates MK2 and blocks ARE-mRNA decay. (A) Primary amino acid sequence of kaposin B from a pulmonary KS isolate and the monomeric kaposin B miniprotein. Sequences are expressed in one-letter codes and aligned to highlight the 23-amino-acid direct repeats. DR2 elements are labeled in red, and DR1 elements are labeled in green. The putative p38 MAPK phosphorylation site in the DR1 element is shaded. (B) The kaposin B miniprotein blocks ARE-mediated mRNA decay. HeLa Tet-Off cells were cotransfected with a ß-globin-based reporter and test plasmids. After 30 h, doxycycline was added to the media to stop transcription. RNA was harvested at 0, 1, 2, and 4 h after doxycycline addition; ß-globin and GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) mRNAs were detected using 32P-labeled antisense riboprobes. ß-Globin-ARE-mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH mRNA levels and expressed in terms of percent mRNA remaining. (C) Kaposin B (kapB) miniprotein interacts with MK2. GST fusion proteins were incubated with purified, recombinant MK2. Complexes were SDS-PAGE purified and Western blotted (WB) with an anti-MK2 antibody (Cell Signaling Technology). (D) Kaposin B miniprotein activates MK2. MK2 was immunoprecipitated (I.P.) from cell lysates and incubated with GST-hsp27 fusion protein and ATP for 1 h at 30°C. Reaction products were immunoblotted with anti-phospho-hsp27 and anti-MK2 antibodies (Cell Signaling Technology).
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FIG. 3. Kaposin B DR1 elements are phosphorylated by p38 MAPK. (A) Kaposin B (kapB) is serine phosphorylated in response to oxidative stress. HEK 293T cells were transfected with empty vector or FLAG-tagged kaposin B for 48 h and treated with 5 mM H2O2 for 15 min and lysed. FLAG-tagged kaposin B was immunoprecipitated (I.P.) with anti-FLAG antibody (Sigma) and Western blotted (WB) with rabbit antiphosphoserine antibody (Zymed) (top) and anti-kaposin B monoclonal antibody (bottom). The kaposin B monoclonal antibody is described in reference 20. (B) Kaposin B is phosphorylated by p38 MAPK but not by MK2. A total of 10 µg of the indicated fusion proteins was incubated with active p38 MAPK or active MK2 (Upstate) and [ -32P]ATP for 30 min at 30°C in kinase buffer. (C) Selective p38 MAPK inhibitors block phosphorylation of kaposin B. GST-kaposin B was incubated with active p38 MAPK, [ -32P]ATP, and the selective p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 or SB202190 or the inactive analog SB202474 (Calbiochem). (D) Mapping of the p38 MAPK phosphorylation site in kaposin B. GST fusion proteins were generated containing full-length kaposin B, the kaposin B miniprotein, and indicated kaposin protein fragments. A total of 10 µg of fusion protein was incubated with active p38 MAPK and [ -32P]ATP for 30 min at 30°C in kinase buffer. Portions of these reaction mixtures were electrophoresed, stained with Coomassie brilliant blue (bottom), and exposed to X-ray film (top). Molecular weight standards are indicated to the right of each panel. Ig, immunoglobulin; Autorad., autoradiography.
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-32P]ATP. After we washed away unincorporated isotope, the radiolabeled GST fusion proteins were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography (Fig. 3D, top). This revealed efficient phosphorylation of native and monomeric kaposin B, as well as the multimeric and monomeric DR1 fusions. As expected, no phosphorylation was observed on either the multimeric or monomeric DR2 fusions or on GST alone, excluding the possibility of adventitious phosphorylation of irrelevant vector sequences. We also tested a short peptide (GAAHPRNPARRTPASSPGTWCPPPREP) from the junction of DR1 and DR2 that does not possess the putative PSSP phosphorylation site; this too was not phosphorylated. To map the phosphorylation site, we then mutated the putative target serine in DR1 to alanine (PSSP
PSAP), in the context of the monomeric kaposin protein. As shown in Fig. 3D, this mutation completely ablated phosphorylation by p38, consistent with the prediction that this residue is the sole site of p38 phosphorylation in the chain. To ask whether phosphorylation at this site can have functional importance in cells, the PSAP mutant described above was introduced into a kaposin B monomer in the pCR3.1-based eukaryotic expression vector. This construct and its wild-type monomeric counterpart were tested for the ability to stabilize globin-ARE transcripts in HeLa Tet-Off cells, as described above. Figure 4A shows that the PSAP mutant miniprotein and the wild-type miniprotein possess identical ARE-mRNA-stabilizing activities. Furthermore, the p38 site mutant miniprotein retained the ability to bind to MK2 in vitro (Fig. 4B) and activate cellular MK2 kinase activity (Fig. 4C), though the level of this activation was somewhat reduced compared to those of full-length kaposin B and the kaposin B miniprotein. Thus, phosphorylation of kaposin B DR1 by p38 MAPK is dispensable for ARE-mRNA stabilization.
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FIG. 4. Mutation of the p38 phosphorylation site does not impair kaposin B activity. (A) The kaposin B (kapB) miniprotein p38 site mutant blocks ARE-mRNA decay. HeLa Tet-Off cells were cotransfected with a ß-globin-based reporter and test plasmids. After 30 h, doxycycline was added to the media to stop transcription. RNA was harvested at 0, 1, 2, and 4 h after doxycycline addition; ß-globin and GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) mRNAs were detected using 32P-labeled antisense riboprobes. ß-Globin-ARE-mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH mRNA levels and expressed in terms of percent mRNA remaining. (B) Kaposin B miniprotein p38 site mutant interacts with MK2. GST fusion proteins were incubated with purified, recombinant MK2. Complexes were SDS-PAGE purified and Western blotted (WB) with an anti-MK2 antibody. (C) Kaposin B miniprotein p38 site mutant activates MK2. MK2 was immunoprecipitated (I.P.) from cell lysates and incubated with GST-hsp27 fusion protein and ATP for 1 h at 30°C. Reaction products were immunoblotted with anti-phospho-hsp27 and anti-MK2 antibodies.
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